Saburo, a politician's son, has a brief encounter with a young girl who tells him of her happy family life and spends years trying to find her again as he struggles to survive during the invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese National Army.
Its 1943 as air-raid sirens blare in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, eight-year-old Saburo is in no hurry to go home to the abuse he suffers at the hands of his parents and older brother. In the peach forests of Taoyuan, he encounters Yoshiko, whose loving family is like a glimpse of paradise for him. Their brief meeting is a memory he cherishes from that moment forward, and for years after he tries to locate her again. But when he finally does, she is by the side of his eldest brother and greatest rival.As the Chinese Nationalist Army lays claim to the island after the war, Saburo bravely struggles to break free of the future assigned him by heritage and circumstance and to go in search of new frontiers.
It's 1943 as air-raid sirens blare in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, eight-year-old Saburo is in no hurry to go home to the abuse he suffers at the hands of his parents and older brother. In the peach forests of Taoyuan, he encounters Yoshiko, whose loving family is like a glimpse of paradise for him. Their brief meeting is a memory he cherishes from that moment forward, and for years after he tries to locate her again. But when he finally does, she is by the side of his eldest brother and greatest rival.As the Chinese Nationalist Army lays claim to the island after the war, Saburo bravely struggles to break free of the future assigned him by heritage and circumstance and to go in search of new frontiers.
Set amid the tumult and violence of postwar Taiwan, an outcast politician's son must fight against the formidable bonds of culture and family for everything he needs: food, education, his first love-and the impassioned dreams that would carry him far beyond the clouds.
It’s 1943 as air-raid sirens blare in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, eight-year-old Saburo is in no hurry to go home to the abuse he suffers at the hands of his parents and older brother. In the peach forests of Taoyuan, he encounters Yoshiko, whose loving family is like a glimpse of paradise for him. Their brief meeting is a memory he cherishes from that moment forward, and for years after he tries to locate her again. But when he finally does, she is by the side of his eldest brother and greatest rival.As the Chinese Nationalist Army lays claim to the island after the war, Saburo bravely struggles to break free of the future assigned him by heritage and circumstance and to go in search of new frontiers.
Set amid the tumult and violence of postwar Taiwan, an outcast politician's son must fight against the formidable bonds of culture and family for everything he needs: food, education, his first love-and the impassioned dreams that would carry him far beyond the clouds.
If I Live to Be 100 is based on One Hundred Years of Stories, a series of profiles of American centenarians, which Ellis produced and which aired in 2000 on NPR's Morning Edition. There are now more 100-year-olds alive than at any other time in history, and longevity studies are finding many of them are active, healthy and engaged with the world around them. Neenah Ellis set out to meet these people and to hear what insights, memories, wisdom, and just plain common sense tips they have to offer. What she's found will surprise you. The original radio profiles are creatively incorporated into Ellis's reading of her book, and the result is a moving and inspiring audio experience.
